


Star City Afterman - The Conversations

by GachMoBrea



Series: My Father, Barry Allen [8]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Barry & Oliver are very good friends, Barry is Len's DAD, Conversations, De-Aged Len, Deleted Scene/Dream Second Chapter, Father!Barry, Gen, Grandpa!Joe, Little!Len, Nightmares, OOC, Oliver is a good listener, Sad, Step-Mom!Iris, Talking, part of The series, talks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-29 20:57:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7699078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GachMoBrea/pseuds/GachMoBrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How does Barry deal with what happened with Leonard?<br/>He talks about it with family and friends.</p><p>SUPER Sad Second Chapter! (You have been warned.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

\---Barry POV---

Barry watches Len eat the sandwich and fruit he was supposed to have earlier that day. He carries his son up the steps and waits for him to use the bathroom and brush his teeth. He follows his son to the boy's bedroom and turns his back so that Len can change into pajamas, then puts the dirty clothes into the hamper before tucking his son into bed.  
Len's eyelids are already half closed when Barry kisses him goodnight.  
He locks the window before exiting the room, leaving the door open a crack.

Barry goes down the stairs and takes in a deep breath.   
1...2..3...  
He lets it out again. The world stops spinning and his mind is a little clearer.

Joe walks down the stairs.  
"Barry," his father-in-law says quietly, carefully. "I'll understand if you don't want me to be around for a while. I can go stay at your parents for a few days-"  
"No," Barry shakes his head at the thought. He smiles. "You didn't do anything wrong. How could you know Len was going to run off?"  
"I should have gone up to check on him sooner," Joe frowns. "I'm a police detective. I should have, I don't know, detected something was up!"  
"You're not all-knowing, Joe," he chuckles a little at the thought if he was. "And I don't ever expect you to be. I don't blame you for what happened."  
"But you're still upset," his father-in-law tells him, Barry can't deny it.   
"What father wouldn't be upset?" Barry shrugs. "Think about how you would have felt if what happened today happened to Iris or Wally?"  
"Exactly!" Joe flinches at his too-loud voice and glances up the stairs, Barry looks too. They wait a few seconds but when there's no sound of disturbance Joe turns back to him and continues, "I would be biting my head off right now. I want to beat myself over the head with the bat Len took with him. I feel like an idiot."  
"Which is why I know I can trust you," he smiles at the other man's confusion. "You would never do anything to endanger Leonard. You care a lot about him which is why you feel as bad as you do about what happened. I know that when I leave him with you again, you'll be even more cautious and, perhaps, even more protective that I am with him."  
"I don't think anyone can be more protective than you, Barry," Joe's frown finally breaks into a small smile. "You're getting good with your 'fatherly wisdom' talks."  
"I've learned from the best," Barry pulls the man in for a hug.   
"Thanks, Barry," Joe hugs him back a little tighter. "For more than you know."

\- 

After talking with Joe, Barry goes to his bedroom where his wife is waiting.  
"Are you destined for several hours of deep conversations?" Iris smiles, taking his hands as she pulls him down to sit on the end of the bed. "How are you feeling?"  
"Tired," Barry sighs, releasing a little more tension for his muscles. "Relieved. Slightly angry, but more at myself than at Joe."  
"You know none of this was your fault," his wife assures him gently. "Leonard was just being a naïve little boy when he decided to run off. No one could have guessed he'd do that."  
"I know," he nods, staring at their joined hands. "There's just a few things still nagging at the back of my mind. They're ridiculous but still there."  
"Hours will turn to days and this will all become a strange occurrence in what we affectionately call life," Iris squeezes his hands. "For now? I think what's best for the family is for you to get some rest."  
"But what if..." Barry's words trail off as his eyes dart towards his bedroom door that lead to the hallway that led to the door of his son's bedroom.   
"I'll stay up and keep an eye on him," his wife turns his head to look at her beautiful face. "I've got a couple of stories to finish. I left the office pretty quickly."  
"Sorry," he instantly apologizes but she shakes her head at the word.  
"We are a family, Barry," she kisses him gently on the lips. "When one of us is in danger we drop everything and run to the rescue."  
Iris stands, her hands slowly slipping out of Barry's. She smiles down at him, "I'll stay up and do my work while you get some rest. I can submit the stories from home and then take the next day off."  
"Thank you, Iris," Barry finally feels the rest of the tension and worry draining from his body as his wife walks to the door.  
"Goodnight, Bear," she winks at him, turning off the light as she walks through the door. She leaves the door open a crack.  
'What did I do to deserve her?' Barry finds himself laughing a little as he kicks off his shoes and lays back on the bed. He falls instantly asleep.

\- -

The next morning, Barry finds Iris asleep in their son's bed. Leonard's face is so calm and peaceful in his sleep that Barry can't resist taking a picture of the two of them.  
He exits the room just as quietly as he came in, once again leaving the door open a crack, then goes downstairs.  
Joe's already in the kitchen, making French toast and coffee.  
"Morning, Barry," his father-in-law smiles at him. "I thought I'd make breakfast for everyone. You want some coffee?"  
'He might still be feeling guilty', Barry thinks, but he smiles instead and answers, "Coffee sounds great."  
"Alrighty," Joe flips the toast in the pan then pulls out a mug to pour Barry the coffee. "There's cream, sugar and some hazel something in the fridge."  
"I hope there's milk too," Barry checks and, yes, there's a half a gallon. "Thank for this, Joe. But you know you didn't have to make us breakfast?"  
"Yeah," his father-in-law shrugs uneasily. "I just felt like cooking is all."

Barry's phone goes off. It's a text from Oliver.  
'Everything OK there?' -it reads.  
Before he can reply, there are footsteps coming down the stairs and he turns to see his wife carrying his son into the room. Len looks away from Barry when he sees him, the small smile on his face turning into a guarded expression.  
What?  
"Morning, honey," Iris kisses him on the cheek as she passes him. "Morning, Dad."  
"Morning, baby girl," Joe waves his spatula. "Morning, Lenny."  
Leonard only nods to the greeting, eyes averting to his hands when his step-mother puts him in his chair.  
Iris walks back into the kitchen with the adults.  
"What's the matter with him?" Joe whispers, keeping his eyes on Len at the table.  
"He had a bad dream last night," Iris whispers back, taking the milk and chocolate syrup out of the fridge. "I heard him crying last night and went to comfort him."  
She smiles over to the little boy, "I accidentally fell asleep."  
"Did he say anything to you?" Barry asks, keeping his voice as low as the other adults.   
His wife shakes her head, "He's not really talking much, Bear. I'd almost be worried if it weren't for the fact he just had a little adventure yesterday."  
Joe grimaces at the reminder and returns his attention to cooking the food.  
"I've got to talk to Oliver," he decides as anxiety rolls in his stomach. "Maybe something happened between Leonard finding Sara and getting to that coffee shop."  
"Who will watch Len?" Joe asks, spatula posed to flip the cooking bread.  
"You and Iris," Barry smiles kindly at the worried look he gets from his father-in-law. "You'll be fine, Joe. Len doesn't look like he's interesting in making another 'escape'."  
"And if he is interested but he's acting like he isn't?" Joe frown, spatula hand still posed. "What happens when I let you down again?"  
"You won't," he assures him. Knowing it was true. He didn't really 'enjoy' the thought of letting his son out of his sight so soon after losing him, but he HAS to know what happened if he's going to help his boy.  
"I'll be here too, Dad," Iris assures her father. "Between the two of us, we won't let Len out of our sight."  
"You got that right," Joe looks down at the, now burnt, food and frowns.   
"I'll be back as fast as I can," Barry downs the coffee before putting the mug in the sink and walking over to his son to crouch down next to him. "Leonard?"  
Len turns wary eyes to Barry and his heart sinks a little.  
"I'm going out for a bit," he puts a comforting hand on his boy's shoulder. "I need you to stay here and be a good boy for Poppa and Iris, okay?"  
Len nods, turning his eyes away to the cup of chocolate milk Iris had place in front of him. With a sigh, Barry kisses his boy on the top of his head and stands. He turns to the two worried adults, "I'll see you guys soon."

The Flash heads to Star City.

\---Outside Person POV---

Oliver Queen is working out in his Arrow Cave when Barry arrives in a bolt of lightning.  
The archer looks down from where he's doing pull up near the ceiling.  
"Barry," he lowers himself a little, then drops down into a perfect roll and jumps back up in front of the other hero. "What's wrong? You didn't answer my text earlier."  
"We need to talk about what happened," Barry tells him, removing his cowl to make it easier to talk. "Do you have a minute?"  
"I have a feeling this will take more than a minute," Oliver smiles a little as he goes for his water bottle. "But I'm all ears."  
"What happened when you found Leonard?" Barry asks. "I know he wasn't injured but was he really scared? Do Felicity or Sara know what happened to him from Sara's apartment to the coffee shop? Do you know if he stopped anywhere else first?"  
As the speedster asks each question in rapid succession, Oliver's eyes get a little bigger and he takes a seat.  
"Ok-Wait-Hold on a minute, Barry!" Oliver has to stop his friend from starting the next round of questions. "Felicity tracked him from Sara's place to the coffee shop, there were a few blind spots but it doesn't look like he went anywhere else or met anyone. When I found him some guy was talking to him, but I took care of it."  
"What guy?" Barry's eyes are laser focused on the archer. "What did he look like? Did you recognize him? Did he do anything? What did he say?"  
"He didn't do anything," Oliver relaxes as his friend's shoulders sag in relief. "He was just talking to Leonard. I got rid of him."  
"Does that mean he's..." Barry's eyes go wide in fear.  
"No," his friend shakes his head once. "He's not dead. I don't do that anymore."  
"Good, thank you, that's good," the speedster nods, focus drifting off to space.

"Barry," Oliver's tone holds a warning that his friend needs to answer him. "What's going on? What the real reason you ran all the way here?"  
"It's not really that far," the speedster shrugs. "Not for me at least."  
"Barry," the archer warns him again.  
Heaving a breath, Barry hangs his head. "It's Leonard."  
"What about him?" Oliver presses, leaning forward in his chair a slightly.  
"He had another bad dream last night," the speedster runs a gloved hand through his hair. "And this morning, he barely even looked at me!"  
"Maybe he thinks your still mad at him?" the archer offers. "He ran away from home on some wild escapade and he knows it was the wrong thing to do."  
"But we talked about that," Barry turns sad eyes to his friend. "I told him I was angry but that I still loved him and I thought that was the end of it."  
"Children are sensitive?" Oliver shrugs. "Maybe he thinks you'll change your mind and still get angry at him? You should probably talk to him about it again. See if there's something else going on in his little mind." He pauses before adding, "He asked me if he could stay with me."  
"What?" Barry startles himself with the harsh tone he used. "Sorry. What?"  
"Before you came to get him," his friend explains. "He asked me if he could stay with me if you kicked him out of the house."  
"I would never do that to him!" the hero's frustration boils his anger. "He's one of the most important people in my life!"  
"I know, Barry," Oliver assures him as he stands. "But Leonard's still young. He doesn't realize what's going on around him and he'll need a lot of reassurance. Even when he does something wrong."  
"I feel like we're talking about a troubled teen more than a five year old," Barry blows out a breath, suddenly tired and feeling the need for another cup of coffee. He smiles sheepishly at Oliver, "I really appreciate you letting me vent all that to you."  
The archer shrugs, "What are friends for?"

 

\- - -


	2. Bonus Chapter - Little Len's Big Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What was Len dreaming about?"
> 
> (Nothing good.)

"I'm a criminal and a liar and I hurt people and I rob them. What did you expect me to do? Not be what I am?"  
Leonard is himself again. Proper body size. Proper age. The Cold Gun is charged in his hand and around him...  
There are so many bodies.  
He can't tell if they're dead, but they're not moving.  
"What did you do Leonard?" Barry appears before him wearing a ridiculous sweater vest that makes him look even more fatherly. "How could you do this to so many people?"  
"I-I didn't-" Len looks at the Cold Gun, sees blood splattered on the sides of it and drops it like it burned him. "I didn't do this, Barry!"  
He looks up to plead his innocence to the speedster, but he's already gone.  
"You are nothing more than a cold-hearted criminal, Snart," Joe's voice growls at him. Len spins around to see the man's scowl. "I can't believe Barry ever thought there was good in you."  
"Me neither," he tries to sound confident, but his voice is so small. Frowning, he shouts as loudly as he can, "I didn't do this!"  
Joe is replaced by Iris. The reporter is just as unhappy to see him as her father was.  
"We could have been so happy, Leonard. Why did you have to hurt us?"  
"Why do you all insist-"  
She disappears and Queen takes her place, dressed as the Green Arrow, weapon drawn and aimed at Len.  
"Wait!" he lifts his hands, but the archer lets the arrow fly and Len throws himself out of the way. When he looks back up, he's alone.  
No bodies.  
No one at all.

Then there's a small light and Len doesn't care if it's the 'one at the end of the tunnel' he runs for it.  
As he gets closer to the light, his footfalls feeling like they aren't taking him anywhere, he realizes it's a pillar of light.  
He keeps on running.  
...Closer...Closer...  
There's someone in the middle of the pillar of light.  
Len tries to run faster, but it still feels like he's going nowhere.  
He finally gets close enough to see who it is and he freezes on the spot.

It's him.  
Not 'him-him' of his universe. The 'him' of THIS universe where he's Barry's son.  
"Why are you here?" the little boy looks up at him sadly, voice echoing in the blackness that surrounds them beyond the pillar of light. "Why did you take my place?"  
"Listen, kid," Leonard growls, crushing the guilt that tries to eat at him. "I didn't ask for this. I got thrown here!"  
The boy tilts his head, "You are not me." He tilts his head the other way. "I am me."  
"And I'd appreciate it if you could do something to get us switched back!" Len bites out. "I don't want to be here any more that you do!"  
"It's too late," the boy looks up into the light shining down on him. "I'm already gone."  
The boy starts to float upwards and Len lunges for him, grabbing the bottom of his pant leg, "No you don't! Get you little Leonard Allen butt back here!"  
The boy looks down on him and smiles, "It's okay Leonard Snart. I am not sad."  
"The heck you aren't!" Leonard yanks the kid back down so that he can be eye-to-eye with him. "I'm no softy for a family of bleeding hearts! You've gotta change us back!"  
The other Leonard puts his hands over Len's and keeps on smiling at him.  
"One day," the boy says as the light gets brighter. "You will understand."  
"Are you kidding me?!" Len shouts, but it's useless. They are wrapped up in the light, just like during the Oculus explosion, and Leonard wakes up back in the child's room once again.

He feels hollow inside.

He rolls over, tries to go back to sleep in order to forget the horrible nightmare, but he's plagued by his own thoughts.  
'If I'm here. Then where's Barry's real kid?'  
You killed him. You murdered a kid, you monster!  
'No! I didn't! I was trying to SAVE people!'  
You took over the body of a little boy! He's gone so you might as well have killed him yourself!  
'I didn't know this would happen!'  
MURDERER!  
The word echoes in his head, loud and clear.  
Tears start streaking down his cheeks.

 

\- - -

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing. Not the shows. Not the characters.  
> I have no money.


End file.
